Event Round Up

An Irish welcome

The Celtic Tiger is pulling out all stops to woo the Indian Tiger, as was evident at the first-ever tourism workshop held in Ireland for new and developing markets. India, invariably, was the toast of the convention. By Neeti Mehra

Beena Menon Representative, Tourism Ireland India

Topping the Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008 of the World's Friendliest Countries in the new edition, Ireland is rolling out the red carpet for the Indian tourist. Tourism Ireland held its first-ever workshop for new and developing markets recently, which was attended by operators from India, China, Japan, New Zealand, and the Middle East. Also participating in the workshop were UK- inbound operators. The day-long workshop saw operators being given an insight into Ireland as a product during the first session, while the second half was slotted with one-to-one business meetings with agents and suppliers. Irish attendees included car rental companies, resorts, hotels, regional tourism boards, and coach and tour companies. A mix of traditional travel agents and online travel agents and tour operators from the key markets of Mumbai and Delhi were invited - Cox & Kings, Travelmartindia, Thomas Cook India, Travelguru.com, Flag Travels, Mercury Travels, Club7 holidays, Quantum Travel India, Axis Travels and Lifestyle Holidays.

The new giants

The impact of this can be understood with the growing contribution of new and developing markets to Ireland's economy. Visitors from these regions stay twice as long as the average holidaymaker and have the highest spend per visit at euros 782, and have a higher propensity to travel throughout the island. The World Tourism Organisation forecasts that the Asia-Pacific region will be the fastest growing outbound region, expanding by 6.5 per cent on the average over the next 15 years, thus presenting ample opportunity for tourism. Considering the long-term prospects, Tourism Ireland is ready to tackle each culturally unique market. For this, the NTO has been prioritising opportunities to exploit, and is developing extensive marketing plans for each market.

India focus

India has been at the focal point of Ireland since the past couple of years. Says Beena Menon, representative, Tourism Ireland India, "Our focus is the high-end FIT traveller looking at extensions from London. The GIT and MICE market are other segments we want to focus on." For Indians, April to July are the major visiting months, with an average length of stay extending from five to seven days.

The NTO is working closely with travel agents and tour operators participating in trade shows to increase visibility of the destination. With a new office in Delhi, it is balancing activities between Mumbai and Delhi. There is also a thrust on promoting the destination through Bollywood, and NTO recently kicked off a promotional campaign that focused on showcasing the depth and versatility of Ireland as well. Says Menon, "Our promotional campaign hinges on the Irish landscape (Giant's Causeway, Cliffs of Mohr), culture (pubs, music and dance) and castles - the three pillars of our communication."

Tourism Ireland also participated in WTM last year, followed by a FAM. The NTO has also been very active in promoting its culture by hosting regular St Patrick's Day celebrations, and also recently held the 'Dance of Desire', which was held in seven cities across India. "We want holidaymakers to live the tagline 'Discover' when they come to Ireland," emphasises Menon.

She believes that a 3D/4N stay, with two days in Dublin would be a basic itinerary, going up to six, eight and ten-day itineraries. The Tourism Board will also push self-drive holidays, with the country having an advantage of driving on the same side of the road as in India, and being an English-speaking nation.

Speaking of connectivity, the NTO is promoting Etihad Airways as a preferred carrier to Ireland, since the country is not connected directly to India. Visas are another area of concern. Indians require a separate visa to enter both Northern Ireland (UK) and Republic of Ireland, thus hopping to the cities of Belfast (in North Ireland) and Dublin (in the Republic or Ireland) are possible only if the traveller has both the visas. Regular visa workshops for the travel trade, especially in the key cities of Mumbai and Delhi are on the anvil. Despite these challenges, in 2006, 10,000 visas were issued for Ireland from India. "However, a lot of people go to Belfast in Northern Ireland which requires a UK visa, thus we have no figures for it," says Menon.

Agents' view

Ireland is a nascent destination on the Indian travel map. Its close proximity to the United Kingdom, coupled with its diversity, make it attractive. But it is time the destination gets out of the former's shadow, agents' feel. Says Manoj Gursahani, chairman, Travelmartindia, "I think it's a fabulous destination for high-end FITs and mature travellers. The best way to promote it will be as a three-four day extension from London, preferably on an LCC. Alternatively, it's a good option for the MICE market. The Indian traveller looks for nightlife, good food, shopping and warm people, and Ireland addresses the same."

Reiterating this belief and speaking of the workshop, Nagsri Prasad Sashidhar, senior consultant - outbound holidays, Mercury Travels says, "The workshop was beneficial as it brought together several operators who were particularly interested in the Indian market. Moreover it was focused, hence there were operators who wanted to invest time and money into further developing our markets." She continues, "The best way to promote Ireland is through self-drive holidays and that is exactly what we will be offering to our target clients. Farm stays, castle stays and B&B are best suited for all segments - families, honeymooners or mature travellers."

Echoes Maya Shenoy, assistant manager, FIT department, Cox & Kings, "Ireland is a great upcoming and unexplored destination. It can be promoted as a honeymoon destination, as well as a family destination, and also as an adventure destination. It also can be combined with Scotland and London."

With the Celtic Tiger rolling out the red carpet, invariably, Indians will be attracted to explore the offerings of this tiny, yet diverse country.

'We rank India as number one in the new and developing markets'

Jim Paul Director - New & Developing Markets Tourism Ireland What was behind the idea of hosting a separate workshop for new and developing markets by Tourism Ireland? Every year new and developing markets were included in the big workshops. This time, we decided to conduct a workshop specially for the Asian market and primarily for India, China and Japan, to address the region's growing tourism needs. Many of the participants had never been to Ireland before, and this provided an opportunity, both to the Irish trade and also the workshop participants to learn more about each other and understand the challenges that new markets bring with them. Where do you rank India in the scheme of things? We rank India as number one in the new and developing markets, though in two decades China, in terms of volume will provide more outbound numbers. The reason is the product fit with India, which is essentially an English-speaking market with nearly 200 million English speakers. From the global point of view, India ranks very low at the moment. We are, however pumping money into the market. Last year, our budget increased nearly 800 per cent over 2006 levels. We also opened an office in Delhi. We are not expecting miracles overnight, but with time, awareness levels will increase. What profile of tourists do you see visiting Ireland? The majority of visitors from India will be leisure tourists. There is a lot of potential from tourists coming from Britain, which is home to over a million Indians. VFR traffic and business visitors to the UK can take onward extensions to Ireland. What is the USP of Ireland vis-à-vis the Indian market? Ireland is an explorer's market and not a mass market. As a country we don't have major icons which attract visitors, who like to tick them off the list of must-sees. Rather we attract an audience who is interested in exploring and experiencing different cultures, as compared to those who visit multiple countries in a few days, which is a status issue. Also, in order to really appreciate Ireland, you need to communicate with the locals. This is a part of the attraction of the country and will appeal to Indians. What measures are you undertaking to ease visa issuance and connectivity to the region? One of the options to reach Ireland is via Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways, as there is no transit visa required and the layover times are convenient, with direct onward connectivity to Ireland. We are also working closely with the government to make the visa process easier and also to make it cheaper to obtain an Irish visa. Hopefully, we should see some positive developments soon. What is your marketing strategy? Our strategy will focus on the tagline 'Discover'. With an increase in the budget, we will up the ante and boost awareness of Ireland. We have already worked on the PR and the trade end to put the building blocks in place. We are considering cooperative tie-ups with VisitBritain and Northern Ireland. We would also be happy to work with European tourism boards. There is no reason why a visitor to France cannot visit Ireland. It is a question of using creative marketing. We have stepped up our advertising efforts, both online and offline. Infact, 40 per cent of our marketing budgets are channelled into online efforts. Our India-specific strategy also includes using mobile phones and search engines. How role do you expect the travel trade to play in promoting Ireland? The travel trade is crucial for credibility. The Indian customer needs reassurance. The ideal strategy for us now is to get the consumer committed to going to Ireland, and for him to ask the agent about this. Word of mouth promotion is very important in the Indian market. What is the way ahead? We are very committed to the Indian market. We are working on attracting the film industry, especially Bollywood, but it is a very competitive business. At the moment we are focusing our efforts on Delhi and Mumbai. Bangalore is next in line, and the other six main metros. We are targeting 80,000 visitor arrivals from India by 2015. During the next three years we need to see real growth. Otherwise we will need to review our strategy. It will take time to establish Ireland as a standalone destination. Having said that, I'm more confident of India than any other country, mainly because of the similarities in language and temperament.